A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes only several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official figures reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
The spread of poverty has led to a significant rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people end up as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real difficulties for everyday life.
- The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Reaching key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.
Community Spirit Amidst Challenges
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.
